


Intricate

by Lady_Ganesh



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Multi, Soulmarks, Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-10 09:27:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15288531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Ganesh/pseuds/Lady_Ganesh
Summary: Not everyone has soulmarks. Fewer people still have a soulmark that needs three people, not two, to be completed.But that's just Yuri Plisetksy's shitty luck.





	Intricate

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rodinia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/gifts).



Mama had refused to talk about Yuri's soulmark. Grandpa would always answer questions, but even he didn’t say much, just that it would fill in when he met the people who would matter most to him. It was an abstract pattern, in two colors instead of the usual one.

It was only later, as he got older, that he understood that most people had only one color in their soulmark, and that talking too much about having two colors meant people gave you funny looks. So he didn't talk, and he mostly kept his back turned when he was in the locker room, and left it at that.

Most of his rinkmates in St. Petersburg knew, and were kind enough to keep things quiet; Lilia found out when they were working on costumes. She eyed his back, lifted her eyebrows, and said nothing.

"I know," Yuri said, sullenly. "I'm a freak, and so are two other guys."

"You'll be stronger," Lilia said.

Yuri had heard a lot of weak-ass consolations about his mark before, but 'stronger' was a first. "Whatever."

"What's more stable, a stool with two legs, or three?"

Yuri rolled his eyes.

"Look," she said, and pushed her sleeve up. There was her completed soulmark, a match for the red-and-white star he’d seen a million times on Yakov. "You think that having the soulmark is enough? You start thinking that your world is just the two of you, and I can tell you that just two is not enough."

It wasn't comforting--Lilia hardly ever was--but it was a different way of thinking about it.

 

He was pulling his costume on in the CCIB locker room when Katsudon said, "Yurio?"

 _"What?"_ The one good thing about the pig was that he didn't make any fucking small talk before he skated.

"It's changed," he said. "Your mark."

Katsudon could talk a lot of shit, but he didn't _lie._ "...are you sure?"

"Mm-hmm," he said. "I can take a picture with my phone? Or you might be able to check in the mirror. But I could send it after you skate, if you don't want to look at it now."

"No," he said. "I'll look."

Another section of the mark was filled in, with bold purple so dark it was almost black. "Shit," he said.

"It has to be someone you touched last night, at least," he said. “Any ideas?”

Yuri shrugged. "Maybe? I mean, I know I shook hands with a couple of sponsors, and I shook hands--"

Shook hands with Otabek. Held him on the motorcycle. Yuri's gut did something that it normally only did just before he got on the ice.

"Maybe," he said. "I'll have to ask. Later."

"Good luck," Yuuri said, and was gone before Yuri could tell him to fuck off with his _luck._

 

"Good skate," Otabek said, though he looked a little surprised to see Yuri waiting for him.

He'd just broken the world record. He should have felt ready to destroy the world, ready to triumph tomorrow. Instead he had a lump in his throat that was hard to talk around. "I've--have you--do you have a soulmark?"

Otabek's face changed. "Did yours--"

Yuri nodded. "Katsudon noticed--it’s on my back. It's different."

"Otabek," his coach called. "We need to--"

"After I change," Otabek said. "It's--I'll be right back." He grabbed Yuri's wrist and they almost ran together, back to the locker room, Yuri ready to _shred_ Victor's stupid costume if it got his back exposed sooner.

Otabek's was smaller and crossed his upper thigh, but it was the same mark, the same purple-black and blue-green, still incomplete. "I knew," Otabek said. “I hoped I knew, anyway.”

"I sure as fuck didn't."

Otabek pulled his clothes on. "I have to tell Coach. And the officials at home, and--"

"Hey," Yuri said. "Can we--can we do it later?"

Otabek stopped, caught his eye. "Yeah," he said, dropping onto the locker room bench, and let Yuri slide into his lap, pulled his arms around him, held him until he stopped shaking.

 

The skating season went on, and took most of his attention until March: gold at the Final, at Euros, an infuriating fourth at Worlds (though Otabek’s unexpected silver was a consolation). In April, the brace still on his ankle, he flew to Almaty. Otabek’s parents weren't soulmates--didn't even have soulmarks--but they seemed happy, and they welcomed him like they'd been waiting for him as long as Otabek had been alive. Maybe they had; Otabek said he'd been born with the beginnings of his soulmark, unlike Yuri, whose hadn't started showing until he was three. He met brothers and sisters and cousins and aunts and got kissed on the cheek so many times he lost count. He went back laden with as much food as he could carry and gifts for Grandpa, Yakov, Lilia--even Potya.

He felt exhausted as he got back on the plane, but in a good way.

 _Maybe it’ll be better if I only find one soulmate,_ he thought, but then he thought of Lilia and wasn’t sure.

 

Of course, Otabek had his own opinion. He was as methodical and stubborn as any other dedicated figure skater, and more sometimes, when something really mattered to him. The same instincts that had encouraged him to rent an extra helmet in Barcelona had led him to create a fucking _Pinterest_ board for symbols that resembled his _(their)_ soulmark, and the additional information from Yuri's had served to narrow the search, but not by much.

"There might be someone looking, and they could see where our mark overlaps," he explained calmly, because he was the absolute worst.

"You're being ridiculous," Yuri said.

"I want to know.”

Yuri huffed. "Look, if Potya and I aren't enough for you--"

"It's not like that," Otabek said.

"Then how is it?"

Otabek actually adjusted the angle of the camera before he answered, making sure his eyes were on Yuri’s. "Because I want to know if...if it's just the two of us, or not. You and I--we belong together, right?"

"Yeah," he said, remembering the first time they'd shaken hands, the tiny, soft kiss Otabek had given him before he boarded the plane back home. How much he’d wanted more, every time.

"I understand what--what we are. The two of us. That's easy. But...what about them?"

"Him," Yuri said.

"It could be either," Otabek said. “Soulmates can be friends.”

Yuri shook his head. He didn't have many instincts around his soulmates, but that one had always held firm. "Him."

"Well, what about him, then. Is he lonely? Is he all right? It was easy for us, but it might not be for him. He could be older, and have been waiting. If we belong together, we should know, and if we don’t--we should know that too. Right?"

"If that was true, his stupid soulmark would already be all over Pinterest," Yuri said.

"Not if he's a skater, or another athlete." That was true. Some countries put strict rules around what soulmarks could be revealed and when. "Then he'll have to find us. I don’t want to make that hard."

The thing was that he kind of liked how sincere Otabek was.

"Okay," he said. "Then, all right. Pin away, or whatever."

Otabek's lips curled, just a little, and Yuri really wasn't sure how he was going to share that smile with anyone else.

 

Russia let skaters could put their soulmarks all over the Internet, if they wanted, but there were no matches there. Hardly any of the skaters in St. Petersburg had a soulmate, anyway; Victor had Chris, which had, according to rumor, resulted in some disastrous fumbling before they had decided the bond was stronger as a platonic one, and there was Yakov, but that was all.

China, Japan and France all kept their soulmarks private by policy. Katsudon didn't have one, but he promised he'd tell Yuri if he saw one on a fellow skater that looked right. "A lot of skaters keep their marks covered, though," he said. "They try to be really careful, because the JSF gets weird if they think you're trying to find a soulmate outside the country."

"It's not like anyone has any control over that," Yuri sniffed.

Katsudon just shrugged.

Italy's were public, which meant at least they were spared the drama of the Crispino family, and most of the other big skating countries left it to the individual athletes.

"I can't believe it's, like, a three-parter," Leo said over Skype. "I don't even have a funny mole."

"But you haven't seen--"

Leo shook his head. "Nope. I've seen some pretty soulmarks, but nothing that matches that. Are you skating at Hot Springs on Ice? Maybe then--"

“Maybe,” Yuri said. There wouldn’t be many new skaters to meet, but he’d get to see Otabek in person again. And it paid.

They booked a room at the hotel near Yuu-Topia together, an excuse to be alone together for a while. Mostly they talked, sitting side by side on the bed, tired from the flight but not tired enough to stop.

"Does it even mean anything?" Yuri asked, lying on his stomach on the bed. "Yakov and Lilia are divorced. Victor likes the pig more than his soulmate. Maybe it's just--maybe it's nothing."

"Maybe," Otabek said. "But I'm here with you." The way he said it make it sound like anything was worth that.

They kissed each other goodnight, and it was still weird sleeping next to someone else, but it was kind of nice too.

 

Minami Kenjirou's EX was one of the few they hadn't seen in person, so they stuck around after practice to watch him run it through.

He skated out in a lab coat.

"Seriously?" Yuri said.

"You haven't seen this on YouTube?"

Yuri shook his head. The opening notes were familiar--

 _She Blinded Me with Science._ Seriously?

It was good, though. When he didn't have quads to worry about landing, he was even looser and more carefree on the ice, his energy coming through with every jump and spin. His smile was easy and charismatic, and Yuri could see the debt he owed to Katsudon in the way he told a story, even one as silly as 'mad scientist loses his shit.'

Also he wasn't _talking_ when he skated, which probably helped too.

Otabek's thigh pressed into his, warm, already familiar. "Coach and I talked about maybe doing something--not like this, but something more fun next year. She says I've proven myself now, I can be a little less serious."

"That's cool," he said. "Lilia says I'm not allowed to choose my own again until I'm 25."

Otabek laughed a little. "I can't wait to see it, then."

"This is good, though," Yuri admitted. "He adds a couple more quads, we're gonna have to watch out."

Otabek nodded, his eyes still on Minami.

 

The onsen was crowded and busy and full of drunken skaters, and it seemed like Otabek, Yuri and Minami were the only ones even making a stab at staying sober. Yuri left the banquet room first, dying for fresh air. Shit, drunks pissed him off sometimes.

"Are you all right?" Minami asked in English.

"Yeah." Yuri hadn't heard him come out. Had he already been out here, or did he follow Yuri? "It's just--how do they fucking stand it? It's so stupid." It was so fucking loud it was hard to think.

Minami shrugged. "You get used to it. You have to get drunk with your sponsors here or you don't have sponsors." He caught the look on Yuri's face. "It's only a couple of times a year. Better than being a salaryman, for sure."

"I guess so."

"You want to walk down to the beach or something? We don't have to--stay here. We could--"

"Yes," Otabek said. He must have followed Yuri out.

They walked together, and once the riot from the onsen started fading, it was actually pretty nice outside. The spring air was cool, and there were enough straggling cherry blossoms left that the air smelled pretty. Otabek kept his hand on Yuri's back, and that felt pretty nice too. Minami talked a lot, and had apparently spent what seemed like years following every nuance of Katsudon's career, but it was such a relief from the idiots back at Yu-topia Yuri didn't really mind that much.

They got to the water, and Minami rolled his pantlegs up and waded in. Otabek said, "would anyone care if we swam?"

"It's cold," Minami said.

Otabek shrugged and pulled off his t-shirt and jeans.

"Seriously?" Yuri asked.

"I don't live near the ocean any more," he said. "I miss it."

He looked good naked, even in the faint moonlight. He paused for a second, then peeled his briefs off too before sliding into the water.

"You should come in," Minami said. "It's nice."

"I'm fine," Yuri said, and dropped into the sand near Otabek's jeans. "Besides, someone's gonna have to take care of you assholes when you get hypothermia."

Minami laughed, and Otabek's head appeared back above the waves. "What did he say?"

"That we'll get hypothermia."

"Then you'll warm me up," Otabek said practically.

"Don't go out too far, though," Minami said. "There's probably an undertow."

"There's always an undertow." Otabek stood up, the water up to his waist. "You should come in."

Minami shook his head. "I'm not a great swimmer, honestly. And it's late. My parents would never forgive me."

"Your parents?"

"Mom and Dad are doctors," he said. "They get...kind of nuts about safety."

"How do they feel about motorcycles?" Yuri asked, feeling a little sadistic.

"Don't ask," he said, with a smile. His canine teeth were really prominent, like he was a fox or something. "Come on," he said, and walked out of the water, back to Yuri. He stuck his hand out. "Just get your feet wet, it feels good."

"Yeah, okay," he said, and let Minami pull him up. He kicked off his sneakers and went in up to his ankles, not bothering to roll up his sweats. The twerp wasn't wrong, it did feel pretty good. Not as good as the hot springs, but different.

"When's the last time you went swimming?" Otabek called.

"I don't even know," Yuri said. "We should go in the morning, when we can see." He'd originally planned on harassing Victor in the morning, but that ran the risk of seeing something no one should look at. It'd be better looking at Otabek.

"Sure," Otabek said. "You want to come, Minami? Everyone else will probably be sleeping it off."

"Maybe," he said.

 

The party was still going when they finally got to bed. When Otabek came out of the shower, Yuri looked him up and down--it was still so new, seeing him like this. Sleeping near each other, though they hadn't done much more than that. Seeing--

"Beka," he said. "Your leg--"

There was only the lamp on, but it was enough to see the completed image, finally, gold and blue and black, the Islamic and Russian influences now blended with something Yuri could recognize as Japanese.

"Minami?" Otabek said, his voice raw. "Is he--"

"Has to be," Yuri said. "Right? Check my back--"

But Otabek was already scrambling to pull his shirt up, and Yuri loved the feeling of Otabek's hands on his back, and it was too soon, way too soon, he wasn't ready to share--

"It's beautiful," Otabek said, and it was good hearing someone say _beautiful_ with their hands on his back, with his breath so soft and warm. "We need to get into the bathroom, you should see this better."

Yuri's first instinct was to say _no, wait, not yet,_ but he was already wondering where Minami's soulmark would be _(has to be him, who else could it be?)_ and if he'd suspected, if he knew now. If he'd squeal loudly enough he could be heard from space. "We should find him," he said.

"You're sure?" Otabek asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I want to see, too."

Otabek pulled Yuri back into his arms and squeezed him, tight, serious, and he felt better, because he'd made the call Otabek had wanted, too.

 

Which made it all the more jarring when they got back to Yu-topia and couldn't find Minami, who was supposed to be sleeping in the room Yuri had used when he'd come to Hatsetsu.

Mari was still on her feet but she hadn't seen him; Hiroko-san thought he might have headed out for the hot springs, so eventually they ended up trying that, and followed the sound of his crying to the outdoor pool.

He wasn't being _that_ loud; it was just quieter back there, with all the party noises muted.

Otabek--Otabek who'd tracked Yuri down in Barcelona, who'd carried two helmets just in case, who'd said, over and over again, that there wasn't any question--Otabek froze for a second, trapped in the faint fairy lights the Katsukis used so no one would break their necks back here.

That meant Yuri would have to be the one to talk. "We can fuck off, if you want," he said. "Like it never happened. Your mark's secret anyway, right?"

Minami shook his head and started sobbing again.

"Hey," he said, wading in. "You can't just bawl at us."

It seemed like he could, though, because he started up again, and shit, Yuri wasn't good at this, but Minami clung to his neck anyway. He felt damp and thin, and he was all big head and big eyes and teeth, and he was ridiculous and if he'd just _stop crying--_

Otabek recovered enough to get in the water on the other side of Minami. "It'll be all right," he said.

"You're--you're so happy, and I don’t even know any Russian--” Minami stammered. "I didn't want to be last. I don't want to be--"

"We don't have to decide that now," Yuri said. "Whatever--whatever we are. Okay?"

Minami took a deep, shuddering breath. "Okay," he said.

"So where's your mark?"

"It's small," he said, and lifted up his arm.

Yuri knew the blond was fake, but it was still a little bit of a surprise to see the dark, coarse hair of Minami’s armpit, half-covering the mark. It looked smaller, delicate, but unmistakably the same mark. "It's pretty," Otabek said.

"Thanks," Minami said, and wiped his face with the back of his hand. "Ugh, I'm disgusting."

"Mine's underwater," Otabek said. "Yuri--"

Yuri turned around.

"Oh!" Minami's voice jumped an octave. "It's so pretty! I never got a good look at it, because of where it is--can I--"

"Go ahead," Yuri said, and he closed his eyes while Minami slowly, carefully traced the mark.

"We don't have to make any decisions yet," Otabek said. "We know. That's all. Nobody else even needs to."

"You'll have to take your Pinterest board down," Yuri said.

Otabek touched his hair, soft, affectionate.

"You looked long enough?" Yuri asked.

"I guess so," Minami said. "Where's yours, Otabek?"

"I'll show you later," he said.

Yuri turned back around, looked at them, side by side, dark and light, loud and quiet. And beautiful. Shit. "Come back with us to the hotel," he said. "It's quieter there, anyway. You can actually sleep, maybe."

"I don't know," he said. "I don't want to--you're _perfect._ I don't want to be in the way."

 _Perfect?_ "If we belong together, we should know," Yuri said. "If we don't, then we'll know now, and you can--go home. Get married. Whatever you want." He wasn't as dumb as Victor. He wasn't going to spend years trying to figure it out.

Otabek put a hand on Minami's shoulder. "We'll walk you home if it's--if it doesn't work."

"Okay," he said. "If it's really okay."

"It's really okay," Yuri said, because shit, he knew he was the asshole.

Minami was small--he said his parents thought he had one more growth spurt in him--and when they put the beds together, there was more than enough room for three, Minami and Yuri on one mattress, Otabek on the other with an arm reaching over Minami's body to rest on Yuri's hip.

Maybe it was just the day, but it was easier to fall asleep like that, even with Minami still anxious between them. Maybe it was just that he had someone to steady, not just Otabek as an anchor.

He woke up first, with Minami at his back, hot breath tickling the back of his neck. His stomach rumbled. He was facing the window, so all he'd done in his sleep was turn over. When he was awake enough to look, Otabek was still spooned against Minami.

He checked the time. Still half an hour before his alarm would go off, though he wasn't sure about the others.

His soulmates.

He remembered, again, Otabek telling them they didn't have to decide anything yet, tell anyone.

But it felt right.

He pushed Minami's hair back from his face. They'd never really talked before, though Yuri had seen him bouncing around in video clips often enough, knew his routines. He was the kind of skater Yuri would normally distance himself from. Too loud. Too childish.

He was pretty when he slept. It was easier to remember that he was a skater like the rest of him, that he worked just as hard as them all, that he'd put in hours and years and had the bruises and scars to prove it.

Otabek stirred on the other mattress and Yuri caught his hand, and wondered if he could just freeze everything in time, right there. No decisions to make. Just this moment, with the three of them, and everything quiet and no drunks or skating federations or people asking when his soulmark had filled in and if he knew who was responsible.

Minami stirred a little, and he was _really pretty_ asleep, even if he did look younger than Yuri, and maybe he didn't have to be an asshole. Maybe this would work.

He thought of Lilia and her stool. Otabek wouldn't have to be alone at 4CC. There'd be one more person to Skype with, to plan with. To stay up way too late with, talking about music and choreography.

They could fill a podium.

"You're smiling," Otabek said; he must have opened his eyes while Yuri was still staring at Minami like an idiot.

"Yeah," Yuri said. "I am."


End file.
